Life After Z

Chapter 6 - Cooper

Everett saw the same thing I had. Saw that Ivy was lying about having access to inhalers. But when he cocked a brow, silently asking me if I wanted him to grab Ivy, I shook my head. That wasn't the right play. We now knew that Ivy was a shit liar and that would work in our favor. We could assume that everything she had told us so far was true and we could continue to probe her for information about her group and where they were holed up.

"Being out in the open like this with your back exposed to a street that was just overrun with Zs is making me nervous. Why don't we take this conversation inside the back of our truck? It is reinforced and completely safe. We even have some food to offer you as a thank you for helping us with Sebbie," I offered but knew it was a mistake the second the words left my mouth. Ivy completely closed down again, readjusted her grip on her firearm, and moved to put a car between her and us.

"Wait," I practically yelled, trying in vain to back peddle back into safer waters. "We just want to talk. We don't mean any harm to you or your people and we have stuff we can trade for the inhalers. Unless you have someone with asthma, they are of no use to you. But bullets and antibiotics are. Please. We just want to sit down and have a conversation."

For a moment, I could see her considering my words but then several things all happened at the same time. Jen opened the back door of the shipping container pulling my attention, a pack of three Zs turned around the corner a block from us but only about a hundred feet from Jen, and Ivy took off in the opposite direction.

"Fuck," I hissed before yelling at Everett to follow Ivy while I dealt with the Zs and Jen. As soon as she saw the Zs heading her way, Jen scurried back into the shipping container and I looked over my shoulder to ensure that Lucas and Sebbie were following her lead. I used my machete to behead the Zs and kicked their heads away from their bodies so that they wouldn't be mobile when they reanimated. Then I scanned the streets for any more threats or signs of Ivy's group for several moments before hauling myself into the cab of the truck.

I could hear Lucas and Jen yelling in the back and said a silent thank you that we had spent the time to soundproof the trailer because we had enough problems right now without adding more Zs to the mix. After scanning the street one more time through the windshield, I headed back to the trailer to play mediator.

"Bottom line is that you let my six-year-old boy run into a street filled with Zs and did absolutely nothing about it," Lucas yelled and I saw that Sebbie was curled up on his top bunk and was wide awake.

"What the fuck was I supposed to do? The kid ran for the door and went looking for you. He was gone by the time I got to the door to stop him. Me going after him and dying too wouldn't have solved anything. If you had taught him to listen to simple directions, none of this would have happened," Jen yelled back, her high-pitched voice bouncing around the small space.

"In my opinion, it would have solved a whole hell of a lot. The only thing you do around here other than warm Cooper's bed is eat our food, drink our water, and cause problems. At least we wouldn't run through supplies so fast if you were turned into Z food!" Lucas bellowed, completely shocking me. Lucas was an overall nice guy and the one of us with the most level head. I knew he didn't like Jen, but it was a pretty big deal that he wanted her gone.

Jen sputtered and I could tell she was on her way to a full-blown meltdown. It was times like these that I regret getting involved romantically with her. If I hadn't been making decisions with my cock then all of this drama would be Everett's problem. But options were limited in the apocalypse and I wasn't a man that did well with absence.

"Jen," I said in a stern voice. "It was your job to watch over Sebbie and keep him safe. You failed. If we can't trust you with Sebbie when we do runs then someone else will stay with him and you can come with us"

Lucas snorted. "You would be better off with Sebbie at your back than her. And there is no if. I will not leave my son with her again. We will have to figure something else out. Maybe Ivy can stay with him after we convince her to join us," Lucas said with confidence that I questioned. Ivy had fled from us and seemed to have a good setup here. Why would she join us?

But the thought of her doing so sent a warm shiver down my spine.

"What?" Jen screeched. "That woman is joining us? Why would you allow that? You just said that resources are limited. We don't have the space or food for another."

"She can have your spot," Lucas volleyed, throwing Jen into a downward spiral. I glared at Lucas and he had the goodwill to look slightly regretful. I was calming Jen down and reassuring her that we weren't giving away her spot when the cab door opened. Everett came through to the back alone.

No Ivy in sight.

"She slipped me," Everett mumbled and then sank down in a chair bolted down in the corner with his arms crossed over his chest. He was not happy and that made two of us.

"She could be getting reinforcements. They could be gearing up for an attack as we speak. We should roll out and find somewhere to hunker down for the night. Regroup and decide how we want to go about getting the inhalers in the morning," I said feeling tired down to my bones.

"Oh come on," Lucas declared as he paced between the sets of bunk beds. "Ivy wouldn't do that to us. Everything she did today was to help us. To help Sebbie. She fought off the Zs that were after him, treated his asthma when I had given up, and gave us advice on how to help him in the future. She did all of that and didn't ask for a single thing in return. She isn't going to turn around and betray us after all of that."

"She might not see it as a betrayal. To her it might be just doing her part for her group," Everett countered. I could see both sides of the argument and while my heart wanted to believe in Ivy and that she had been acting out of kindness today, my brain knew that the world was not a kind place these days. Everett's version of events was more likely.

"As I said. Let's roll out and find somewhere safe to camp for the night. Everett, you stay here and keep watch. We need to know if her people come sniffing around. Ball is in their court. They know that we are willing to trade. Let's see what they do next. Hopefully, they will be willing to work something out peacefully. But even if they aren't, we need to know either way."